They might not be Shakespeare or Wordsworth but lyrics by soul singer Amy Winehouse have been included in a Cambridge University literature exam for the first time.Final year English students were asked to compare a song by the singer with verses from Elizabethan poet and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh.The university defended its decision to include lyrics from the 24-year-old's hit single Love is a Losing Game in the exams, while critics accused it of dumbing down.On the same day last week that the song, from Winehouse's breakthrough release Back to Black, won a prestigious Ivor Novello award, students were being asked to compare it to the 16th century poet's work As You Came from the Holy Land.They could also write about Bob Dylan's Boots Of Spanish Leather or Billie Holiday's Fine And Mellow during the practical criticism exam.Cambridge officials said students were then asked to compare Raleigh's poem, written in 1592, with one or two of the designated songs while making reference to the "diverse senses of lyric".
Nick Seaton, of the Campaign for Real Education group, said it amounted ot "dumbing down" the exams.- REUTERS
